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2001 Acura CL - Review

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Ominous gray clouds spit water down on the windshield as we wound our way
through the Los Padres National Forest toward Pine Mountain Summit. Southern
California was experiencing a heavy winter storm, one that might have spoiled an
introduction of a lesser car. But, as the Acura staff would have us believe, it
was their idea of the perfect conditions to test the redesigned 2001 Acura 3.2
CL and its performance-minded counterpart, the Type S.

Both coupes, but especially the hot Type S, are designed to compete against
such luxury performance coupes as the Mercedes-Benz CLK and the BMW 328Ci. It’s
a tall order, especially when you consider that Acura plans to lead this class
by offering more features than others in its class for a price several thousand
dollars less than its least expensive competitor. Then factor in (aside from the
Integra) Acura’s less performance-minded bent than its German competition.

Is the new Acura competitive, especially when
compared with the Teutonic powerhouses? For the answer to that question, look no
further than the CL’s all-aluminum, 3.2-liter, 24-valve, V-6 engine, similar to
that in Acura’s TL sedan. The CL version features 225 horsepower and silky,
effortless power just as it does in the TL.

Then there’s the Type S powerplant, which has been
modified to produce 260 horsepower. To create the Type S version, engineers
started with the base engine in the new CL and added a dual-stage induction
system, low-restriction dual-outlet exhaust, larger diameter throttle body; then
increased the compression ratio and topped it off with special intake valves,
camshafts and cylinder heads. Acura engineers say that these enhancements mean a
broader torque curve with 232 lb-ft of torque between 3500 and 5500 rpm. On the
bits of dry road we found during our test, we experienced some serious
get-up-and-go both at low speeds, such as entering a freeway, and at higher
speeds, such as when passing at highway speeds.

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